Penguin Modern Poets Series Rises Again

Collectors of Penguin’s Modern Poets series will soon have another set to add to their collections. The popular series will be revived by Penguin this summer to introduce readers (and collectors) to a new set of 21st-century poets.

The first Penguin Modern Poets series - 27 volumes strong - launched in 1962 and ran through the mid 1970s featuring a variety contemporary poets such as Laurence Durrell, Charles Bukowski, and John Ashbery. Each entry in the series contained work by three poets, mostly British and American, arranged in carefully selected groupings.

The series was revived again in the 1990s for a three year, thirteen volume run, featuring poets such as Carol Ann Duffy and Simon Armitage.

And now, in 2016, Penguin poetry editor Donald Futers will be launching the series again in July, calling the contemporary era a “golden age” of poetry. The first volume will contain poetry by Anne Carson, Sophie Collins, and Emily Berry.

Futers already has the first twelve entries in the new Modern Poets series planned out, referring to the potential for the series to be “infinite” in an interview with The Guardian.

Futers continued, “In the past, the series has been incredibly successful - when I’ve talked to people about the fact I’m starting a new series up, they consistently tell me how much they loved the old one.”

Penguin Modern Poets Series Rises Again

Collectors of Penguin's Modern Poets series will soon have another set to add to their collections. The popular series will be revived by Penguin this summer to introduce readers (and collectors) to a new set of 21st-century poets.

The first Penguin Modern Poets series - 27 volumes strong - launched in 1962 and ran through the mid 1970s featuring a variety contemporary poets such as Laurence Durrell, Charles Bukowski, and John Ashbery. Each entry in the series contained work by three poets, mostly British and American, arranged in carefully selected groupings.

The series was revived again in the 1990s for a three year, thirteen volume run, featuring poets such as Carol Ann Duffy and Simon Armitage.

And now, in 2016, Penguin poetry editor Donald Futers will be launching the series again in July, calling the contemporary era a "golden age" of poetry. The first volume will contain poetry by Anne Carson, Sophie Collins, and Emily Berry.

Futers already has the first twelve entries in the new Modern Poets series planned out, referring to the potential for the series to be "infinite" in an interview with The Guardian.

Futers continued, "In the past, the series has been incredibly successful - when I've talked to people about the fact I'm starting a new series up, they consistently tell me how much they loved the old one."